Triple-fisting and snapped plastic forks were each an indirect result of a broken dishwasher at The 5 on Monday, where students ate off Styrofoam plates and sipped from “airplane” cups to compensate for the dining hall’s broken mega-washer.
A new part is scheduled to arrive at 10 a.m. today, and LSU Dining will immediately repair the washer so the dining halls can return to using china plates as soon as possible, said Resident District Manager David Heidke.
In the meantime, some students struggled with the replacements.
Civil engineering freshman Phillip DiBenedetto planted his clear plastic fork in one side of his waffle and began sawing with a knife. Almost immediately the fork snapped in half, leaving the spiked end stuck in the waffle, with the broken handle lying on the table.
He and fellow civil engineering freshman Blake Elliott bursted into laughter, saying they hadn’t experienced any problems with the interim plates and utensils until then, unless it came to quenching their thirst.
“It’s a pain having to get up every three or four minutes to get some water,” DiBenedetto said, referring to the tiny plastic cups, much like the ones served on airplanes for mid-flight beverages.
Computer science junior Travona Lewis engineered a unique solution to the cup issue — triple-fisting.
“I had to make two trips,” Lewis said, noting the Styrofoam plates and plastic cups were mostly just a surprise. “The food still tastes the same,” she added.
The dishwasher does not operate like a typical at-home appliance, since it never stops running. Instead, dirty dishes go through the system much like a car travels through a car wash, receiving different cleansing treatments and popping out a different end after a drying cycle, Heidke said.
“We would certainly rather be serving on reusable china plates and silverware and glasses,” he said, adding that repairs are typically made on the same day of breaks, but that a specific part required overnight shipping to solve this snafu.
The dishwasher broke Sunday, but Heidke said he expects everything to be back to normal by lunchtime today.
The reason for Styrofoam plates, rather than paper or plastic, was not only due to their low cost, but also because LSU Dining had extra disposable dishware stocked up from Hurricane Isaac preparations.
Heidke also said Styrofoam holds stronger for hot food, whereas a paper plate is less sturdy.
